New Scenario--The Italian Wars

[Cyrion]

If you need a part-time tester too, check your pm box (rather Rome than Italy, but I wouldn't mind Italian Wars either)

[jim panse]

Re: Playtest

Well, well.

I recieved your email, Phenix, and I already took an initial look at it, here are some comments:

* Otranto should be unter the control of Naples again since the Ottomans took it in mid-1480, but the Aragonese ruler - Ferdinand I of Aragón/Ferrante - was able to retake the town in 1481.

*Corfu was Venetian until 1797, the formal end of the Republic of Venice.

* You should either go entirely for the English *or* the Italian names of the towns, this mixture, however, does not look too good - at least to me. I am offering you my help to determine the Italian names of those places you should not know.

More to come ...

[fairline]

Where's mine!

[curtsibling]

Count me in too!

[civ2units]

Exile, may I use the Fortress unit for my AWI scenario?

[curtsibling]

I would let Exile use the fort GFX first, then borrow it after release...

[Exile]

Ok, very busy this weekend. All I have time for now is a brief message.

The fortress graphic is Gareth's. Ask him. It's ok w/me.

Look for a new version monday.

[jim panse]

Some more to report ...

Well, it turned Autumn 1496 by now and the cowardly Frenchies haven't even reached Milan ... you really should be doing something about the French advance, Phenix. The French reached Naples pretty fast ...

Have you considered renaming some places (heck, I even found "Sienna" - which should be spelled with only one "n", btw)?

The Sforza of Milan should not be named "Italians", let all (more or less) practical considerations aside, it was the "Duchy of Milan", and its head of state was the duke - a member of the Sforza family, Ludovico il Moro (Ludvig the Moor). I suggest you go either with "Milanese" or with "Sforza". Btw, the same goes for the Tuscans which could be called "Medici" (another family, like the Sforza of Milan) and the Neapolitans - they could be called "Aragonese" - just in case you would want to use family names, of course

Ragusa/Dubrovnik should be independent (realistically the souvereignty of the Republic of Ragusa/Dubrovnik was somewhat limited as they agreed to pay tribute to the Ottomans, however, they were able to remain nominally independet of the Ottoman Empire and kept their indenpendence until the early 19th century when Napoléon arrived).

I hope this helps, more to come soon

[Exile]

Actually . . . .

Here is what I did;

There is a pattern of AI behavior that I attempted to utilize for the rapid advance to Naples in that first year. When a civ has the Nuke Fission tech, and no other civ does, diplomacy is very different than normal. You will discover, as I did when testing this little beast, that, playing as the French, you can bowl over your impediments diplomatically. The Milanese civ begins allied to the French, so movement there isn't going to be impeded unless that civ happens to place a unit on one of the vital roads south. The other two civs along the pathway to Naples will also readily join in alliance with the French, thus allowing free movement through their territories. Once again, the random element is whether or not the Florentine and Papal civs will happen to place units on vital roads. Given a little luck, it can be done on the historical timetable.

This problem kept me from trying to tackle this scen for years. How does a French army of the period, in southern France at the start, get all the way to Naples in the historical time alloted? The trick occurred to me because of the way I play the Turks in AoC. The Sultanate tech is Nuke Fission, and once I have it, I always begin frantically extorting techs from the other civs at that point. The other civs give readily, no complaints, and will ask for alliances.

This is one good instance of understanding the vanilla game AI and how it functions in ways NEVER stated in any rulebook, and using it in a scenario. The Nuke Fission tech has several properties of this sort.

[techumseh]

Interesting. I always thought you needed actual nukes.

[Exile]

It's just the tech, Brian, and it also changes the diplomatic messages.

[curtsibling]

That is useful info - Good stuff!

[Gagliaudo]

indeed
bravo Exile

[Exile]

New version going out now.

Jim I'm going to wait on nomenclature and details until I get the game tweaked sufficiently. All your suggestions are noted and will be implemented.

This version has an experimental approach to siege weaponry and warfare. I'm curious to know how things work. I've incorporated Von Bert's idea about making trace italienne fortresses helicopter air units w/no movement and made the bombardment unit available with the first artillery tech. The siege guns now have the carrier flag, w/the intention of allowing them to "carry" bombardment units. I want to see how this works, and, I suspect, the numbers will require tweaking to get "right."

[Cyrion]

Re: Actually . . . .

Originally posted by Exile
When a civ has the Nuke Fission tech, and no other civ does, diplomacy is very different than normal. You will discover, as I did when testing this little beast, that, playing as the French, you can bowl over your impediments diplomatically.
...
The trick occurred to me because of the way I play the Turks in AoC. The Sultanate tech is Nuke Fission, and once I have it, I always begin frantically extorting techs from the other civs at that point. The other civs give readily, no complaints, and will ask for alliances.

This is one good instance of understanding the vanilla game AI and how it functions in ways NEVER stated in any rulebook, and using it in a scenario. The Nuke Fission tech has several properties of this sort.

Very interesting discovery, Exile!

I'll have to make some note of that!